Nymphomanius wrote:Well legally you can't take 4 marker drones with a pathfinders team so yeah that would be illegal though if he meant instead that he takes a drone squad for markerlight support and uses them along side the pathfinder squad that would be fine, though without a drone controller for 4 marker drones you can get 5 Pathfinders who are more accurate so why take the 4 drones?

It's just that "cheating" implies malice or deceit, when I'm pretty sure this is an honest mistake.

At any rate, yeah, you could just buy more Pathfinders which would be more effective.

Yes, you're right Arka. I definitely was saying it more tongue in cheek, my apologies for it being taken any other way.

Yes sorry I kind of read support as tactical, and yes your right actual pathfinders would be better than markerlight drones and cheaper so revised I would field 3RR in a unit of 10 pathfinders with a recon drone hiding somewhere.Sorry to have mislead.

Rail rifles are actually excellent against mid-sized units and marines.They get plenty of shots, so they are very likely to get mortal wounds off. And their Str, AP and damage are just tasty. They are a tiny bit more expensive than they should though. They are just as expensive as a fusion blaster and have a much lower strength, although their damage is on-par. Their main advantage is they are stuck to an inexpensive unit and have a longer range than the fusion blaster. I try to take at least 1 rail rifle per pathfinder squad, since the enemy usually underestimates it and the cheaper pathfinders can protect it well.

Temennigru wrote:Rail rifles are actually excellent against mid-sized units and marines.They get plenty of shots, so they are very likely to get mortal wounds off. And their Str, AP and damage are just tasty. They are a tiny bit more expensive than they should though. They are just as expensive as a fusion blaster and have a much lower strength, although their damage is on-par. Their main advantage is they are stuck to an inexpensive unit and have a longer range than the fusion blaster. I try to take at least 1 rail rifle per pathfinder squad, since the enemy usually underestimates it and the cheaper pathfinders can protect it well.

Rail Rifles suffer from a few issues though- looking at the numbers yields some surprising results. Overcharged Ion Rifles deal more damage to GEQ, MEQ, and everything in between. Rail Rifles only deal more damage at rapid-fire range, or against Primaris, TEQs, vehicles, etc. However, even if both of these conditions are met (firing at a Primaris Marine at rapid-fire range, for example) the Rail Rifle only does about 2.5x damage despite costing 3x the points.

Temennigru wrote:Rail rifles are actually excellent against mid-sized units and marines.They get plenty of shots, so they are very likely to get mortal wounds off. And their Str, AP and damage are just tasty. They are a tiny bit more expensive than they should though. They are just as expensive as a fusion blaster and have a much lower strength, although their damage is on-par. Their main advantage is they are stuck to an inexpensive unit and have a longer range than the fusion blaster. I try to take at least 1 rail rifle per pathfinder squad, since the enemy usually underestimates it and the cheaper pathfinders can protect it well.

Rail Rifles suffer from a few issues though- looking at the numbers yields some surprising results. Overcharged Ion Rifles deal more damage to GEQ, MEQ, and everything in between. Rail Rifles only deal more damage at rapid-fire range, or against Primaris, TEQs, vehicles, etc. However, even if both of these conditions are met (firing at a Primaris Marine at rapid-fire range, for example) the Rail Rifle only does about 2.5x damage despite costing 3x the points.

This. I would mention something from the other thread which is that rail rifles specifically cover a range that tau have a lot of trouble addressing with other weapons (primaris and TEQ). Still, I think they generally stink at that role as they die to basic storm bolters and have only a 1 inch advantage in range which makes them likely to die. I'm happy the ion rifle is in the place it is in 8th. I think it's utility also comes back to it's points cost, cheap enough to throw on a pathfinder team without feeling like you have to protect your investment, but multipurpose enough to warrant inclusion. Its hard for pathfinders to escape their squishiness and it limits the desire to invest in them. To me this extends to other aspects of running them, don't waste transports or drones trying to protect them. If you find yourself in that situation just take more pathfinders.

All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; Unto the place whither the rivers go, Thither they go again.